Enjoy ‘The Trip’ says Kyle

Kyle Dickson from Berwick who is starting up a new music magazine called 'Trip'.

Published:09:49Wednesday 22 June 2011

Berwick is braced for the launch of the region’s very own magazine.

‘The Trip’, brainchild of graphic design student Kyle Dickson, is a hip new magazine in the making, focusing on local talent, interests and events, which will be available next month.

‘The Trip’ was introduced online in March, on a blog site which boldly stated: “We’re a mere blog at this moment in time, but we’ve got big plans.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but as Robert J Hastings said ‘Sooner or later we must realise there is no station, no one place we must arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip.’ ”

The idea was eventually to move on to produce a printed and published magazine. And local design aficionado Kyle, 20, was perfectly placed to make it happen. He explains: “The website is literally made up of anything interesting or funny, but the printed magazine, when it launches in July, is going to be about local things, rather than just anything at all.

“We’re targeting people in Berwick but we’re trying to get it out to a wider audience too. We have got a gallery in Newcastle that is going to give out the magazine and I’m also waiting to hear back from other places as well who have expressed an interest. I’ve also thought about going to the Edinburgh Festival with a few.”

Kyle first thought to create a Berwick-based mag after completing a study at college, which he submitted in the format of a magazine.

He says: “I love graphic design but I didn’t really have a specific area that I wanted to go into, then we did a module on editorial design, for newspapers and magazines, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do - rather than going into branding and doing logos for the rest of my life!

“I have always loved magazines, and there’s a lot going on in this area that people don’t really notice or know about.

“Once you have studied graphic design for even a week, you realise there are endless possibilities, you can make something look as good as you want. That’s why it’s great to be doing my own magazine - a lot of the time if you’re working for a client you have to produce what they want, to their specification.

‘‘It may be work that you personally don’t like, but when you’re working for yourself you can do whatever you want!

“I think there’s a lot of people (in the design industry) that sell out, I suppose, which I don’t appreciate,” he adds. “There’s a lot of people that are quite ‘snooty’ as well in design!”

The first issue of ‘The Trip’, which features an interview with Xennon Easton of Berwick band Espionage of the Loc, will be introduced at a special launch party on July 1 at The Barrels in Berwick. And Kyle is so passionate about the project that he’s giving ‘The Trip’ away for free!

“I’m not too bothered about making a profit,” he says. “If we publish an interview and get one band a record break from it, say, then it will be worth it.

“The idea originally was to have a magazine that people would pay for, just to cover the printing costs, but we decided that not a lot of people would be willing to buy it so we said we’d have advertising. We haven’t got any yet but hopefully we’ll generate some advertising after the first issue is out and people see what it’s like.”

For now, Kyle’s meeting the expenses himself by working part-time when he’s not studying at Durham College.

Compiling content with a little help from his friends, with contributors submitting interviews, reviews and other copy, Kyle takes charge of the design. “For content we look in Berwick literally for anything interesting, but for layout and stuff I look at magazines like ‘Vice’, that’s a really big influence for us, and I look at graphic design magazines for ideas because they’re always laid out really well.”

With the hotly anticipated launch of ‘The Trip’ fast approaching, Kyle says there’s lots to do. “At the moment I’m kind of regretting saying that the first issue is going to be out on July 1!” he admits, “but we’ll get there and I hope it goes down well. It’s quite fresh, I can’t think of anything like it round here before.”

When embarking on the project, Kyle knew it wouldn’t be easy. But he says he’s had help from unexpected places. “It’s a lot more possible than people think to do it,” he insists. “We’ve had help from people that we were not really expecting help from. ‘The Trip’ is being printed by a company called The Newspaper Club - printing is a lot more complicated than it sounds! But they have given us a lot of help making sure that what we send them comes out how we want it.”

Hot off the press, the finished product will be available at the launch night, and in and around the town thereafter. For a new and unique take on the local ‘scene’, get your hands on a copy!